Nothing can beat real, good quality food!

Written by top level Personal Trainer Karen Burge

Nothing can beat real,good quality food ! Food, produced, prepared and eaten correctly will provide all the nutrition the body needs. This is true whether you are working out 2-3 times a week or if you are an athelete.

Of course it is important that you get the fuel mix right, taking in about 40% protein, 20%,fat and 40% carbohydrate.Once you find what is right for you, make sure the quality of your food is the best you can afford , to provide all the vitamins and minerals you need. Try to cut out proceeced, packaged foods which have all sorts of non foods added that the body does't need.

Taking a closer look at suppliments commonly used by gym goers we have isotonic drinks and protein powders, shakes and bars.

Isotonic drinks can be used for prolonged exercise or sports sessions, to replace lost fluid and electrolytes, while keeping the body fueled with an easily absorbed form of carbohydrate . This can be easily and cheeply made by mixing 500ml of unsweetened fruit juice with 500ml of water and adding 1/5 teaspoon of nateral unprocessed salt, (paraolimpics.org.uk). The alternative brightly coloured so called sports drinks may fill the above criteria BUT they contain chemical cocktails to give them their 'appealing' colours and tangy flavours. They contain sweetners such as aspartame, acesulfame k, and sucrolose . These substances really need to be avoided as research shows that they damage centers in the brain controlling appetite, as well as a whole range of other undesirable effects on the bodies delicatly balenced metabolism. I do find that these sports drinks are abused in gyms , by this I mean people bying them to sip throughout a workout lasting up to an hour, a slow jog on a treadmill does not warrant a sports drink. Even durring a heavy weights session , the body can be adequatly hydrated with water,and of course a healthy snack or meal shortly afterwards to promote recovery.

This now takes us onto a look at protein shakes and bars. These are made from whey. Whey is a nateral complete from of protein, easily absorbed and used by the body. It is infact the perfect food post workout, aiding in recovery and suppling all the nutrition needed for lean muscle mass - IF  taken in its natural form. When consumed as milk it has all the enzymes vitamins and minerals in the correct proportions to be absorbed by the body. The problem with supplimenting with whey powders/shakes is that they been processed, this kills the enzymes to absorb the protein and destroys the vitamins and minerals so that the body cannot use them. Heat causes all of these things to happen, what do we do with milk ? As soon as comes from the cow it is , we pasturize it which means heating it to a high temperature for just a matter of seconds but still enough to destroy one of mother natures most perfect foods! Durring the maufacture of whey protein , the product is heated maybe up to four times. Even the cold pressed powders are pasturized to begin with and if spray dried, subjected to high temperatures. Then if that is not enough ,sweetners ,colours, and flavourings are added, not only these but also monosodiumglutamate (MSG) maybe added. As some of the processes durring manufacture actually produce MSG as a by product , you may not even see it listed on the ingredients!

In conclusion, commercial sports drinks and protein powders are unnessesary , expensive and full of chemicals that the body nether needs or functions well on . If you are putting in the hard work at the gym to build muscle or to improve your fitness or strength, you owe it to yourself to choose pure,high quality food over suppliments every time.

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